Kicking off the countdown with one of my all time favourite diaries – Letts which have a fantastic collection of academic diaries. I love their traditional ‘Letts’ plain bound diaries as they remind me of being a child (I had a letts desk diary each year to play with).

However for being a student and carting the diary on the go the A6 or A5 is a more appropriate size.

More recently Letts have ‘funked up’ their academic diaries by making them bright and colourful. However, I am a traditional girl at heart.

On a personal level I favour the A5 week view (week on two pages). This allows me enough space to write in two columns for each day of the week. On the left hand side I write the things I am doing that day i.e. time, event and place and then on the right hand side I keep my to-do list. This means that I only have up to 8 items per day which is a manageable amount.

I have decided to revive an old blog series which I started in 2010 where I have a closer look at some of the diary options for the upcoming year. However, this time I am taking a closer look at some academic / student planners or diaries which run from 2013 to 2014.

But first… what makes a good student planner? In my previous post I explained what I learned from my original homework diary and what stayed with me beyond my school and university years. In my opinion a good student planner needs:

a pretty and functional cover that looks good and is hard-wearing;

sturdy binding – I don’t have a preference as long as it lasts;

timetable pages;

a clear week view with some extra room for doodles, to-dos, and habit development; and

key dates / holidays.

The rest of the week I will be putting a few of my favourite academic diaries under the spotlight in this year’s countdown to the new academic year.